Siemens Mobility has announced the completion of the full automation of Paris’s Metro Line 4. This now means that the line is operated exclusively using automatic driverless trains.
The news of the full automation follows on from a period of mixed operation, which meant that driver-operated trains ran along automatic trains. The line has been automated since September 2022, but has never run fully automated service.
Line 4 is the second busiest metro line in Paris’s network, carrying over 700,000 passengers per day. Since beginning the project in 2015, Siemens Mobility have equipped the tracks, and supplied the equipment and software for the Operation Central Command, which manages the signalling system and the subsequent traction power supply.
It has also supplied the automation and radio systems. Since the inception of the automated system, there has been several performance improvements. The CBTC signaling technology’s ability to continuously receive updates on the systems status has allowed the Paris Metro’s operator RATP to safely increase capacity alongside scaling up and down the number of trains available depending on passenger levels.
Interval periods between trains has also been reduced, from 105 seconds to 85 seconds. There has also been a reduction in traction power consumption, which has been cut by 17%.
"This automation of a century-old line is a further demonstration of the unique know-how of the RATP group and its partner Siemens Mobility in terms of automatic metro systems.
From now on, other modernisation projects will be carried out with Siemens Mobility, in particular with the implementation of a new automatic control system on line 14 and its extensions to Saint-Denis Pleyel and Orly Airport," said Catherine Guillouard, president and CEO of the RATP group.
“We are proud to have partnered with RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités to complete this landmark project that provides Line 4 with the highest grade of signaling technology and automation services,” said Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility.
Photo Credit: RATP
